Scottish Executive

Adoption

Phil Gallie (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what the average time is for an adoption order to be issued from the time of placement of a child with prospective adoptive parents.

Euan Robson: This information is not currently held centrally. The Scottish Executive has been working with partners in the voluntary sector and local authorities to improve the information held on children needing new permanent homes. A new statistical return is being piloted in 2004-05 and initial findings will be available in autumn 2005. Details of the information sought are available at:

   http://www.scotland.gov.uk/about/ED/IAC/00016135/Forms.aspx

Crime

Ms Sandra White (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive when it will introduce legislation on regulating the security industry and ensuring that this sector does not become a preserve of organised crime.

Cathy Jamieson: We are committed to introducing regulation of the private security industry at the earliest opportunity. We plan to achieve this by extending the remit of the Security Industry Authority to include Scotland and this will require amendments to be made to the Private Security Industry Act 2001 in the UK Parliament.

  I have been in contact with the Home Secretary to find a suitable legislative vehicle in the UK Parliament to allow this legislation to be brought forward.

Crime

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether DNA samples (a) volunteered by individuals or (b) obtained from a suspect in the course of a criminal enquiry who subsequently is found not guilty of having committed any crime are kept on record in either Scotland on a national or local database, or elsewhere on an alternative database, without the express permission of the individual concerned.

Cathy Jamieson: DNA samples in Scotland can only be retained if individuals are convicted of a criminal offence. The only exceptions are samples which are volunteered and prints and samples taken under the Terrorism Act 2000, which allows for such samples to be retained for the purposes of terrorist investigations.

Culture

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how it defines the creative industries.

Mr Frank McAveety: We define the creative industries as those industries which have their origin in individual creativity, skill and talent and which have a potential for wealth and job creation through the generation and exploitation of intellectual property. This includes advertising, architecture, the art and antiques market, crafts, design, designer fashion, film and video, interactive leisure software, music, the performing arts, publishing, software and computer games, television and radio. This definition is also used by the Department of Culture, Media and Sport.

Data Protection Act 1998

Helen Eadie (Dunfermline East) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to resolve any anomalies in the implementation of the Data Protection Act 1998 that prevent professionals, volunteers and members of the public from performing their normal roles, with particular reference to prevention of lay members of the church from undertaking their pastoral duty of visiting patients in hospital.

Malcolm Chisholm: Implementation of the Data Protection Act 1998 is the responsibility of each individual NHSScotland organisation. All staff, students, volunteers, and contractors must endeavour to meet the standards outlined in the NHSScotland Code of Practice on Protecting Patient Confidentiality , which can be found at www.show.scot.nhs.uk/confidentiality, as well as their terms of employment or other engagement agreements.

  The Scottish Executive seeks to help NHSScotland bodies discharge their responsibilities under the act in a consistent manner through the Code of Practice and by supporting the work of the Data Protection and Caldicott Guardian Forums.

  Where volunteers have access to patient identifiable information to perform agreed activities, a written agreement should be put in place between the hospital and the voluntary body and volunteers should be asked to sign an appropriate "confidentiality statement".

  Visits by lay members of a church to patients in hospital should require no special arrangements if the patient is known to them and is willing to receive the visit. If the visit by a lay member is as part of the hospital’s spiritual care services then any information provided to lay members about the patient should be provided in accordance with the code of practice on protecting patient confidentiality, and with the patient’s informed consent.

Deaf and Hearing-Impaired People

Miss Annabel Goldie (West of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is satisfied with the adequacy of residential care for people with hearing difficulties in the west of Scotland.

Mr Tom McCabe: It is for local authorities and the NHS to determine the level of provision required to meet local needs and to seek to secure an appropriate range of services.

  There are 528 care homes in the west of Scotland. In the March 2003 Care Homes Census, 117 care homes indicated that they can cater for people with a hearing impairment.

Education

Linda Fabiani (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of secondary schools offer modern studies courses at (a) S2, (b) standard grade, (c) higher grade, and (d) higher still level, broken down by local authority area.

Peter Peacock: I refer the member to the answer given to question S2W-6863 on 24 March 2004. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search .

Education

Linda Fabiani (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps are being taken to increase the number of pupils who study modern studies.

Linda Fabiani (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps are being taken to ensure that pupils who do not have access to modern studies courses can study current affairs, including the business of the Parliament, to standard grade, higher grade and higher still levels.

Linda Fabiani (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to ensure that every pupil will have access to a modern studies course.

Peter Peacock: All publicly-funded secondary schools in Scotland are approved by the Scottish Qualifications Authority to offer national qualifications courses in modern studies. However, some schools can decide not to offer the subject at any or all of the available levels. There is no school statutory national curriculum in Scotland. It is therefore a matter for local authorities and schools themselves to decide upon the course options they provide.

Finance

Frances Curran (West of Scotland) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive what (a) public relations, (b) marketing, (c) market research and (d) opinion research companies have been employed by (i) Executive agencies, (ii) non-departmental public bodies, (iii) NHS boards and (iv) local authorities since the Executive's establishment; what projects each such company has worked on, and how much each such company has been paid.

Mr Andy Kerr: The information is not held centrally by the Scottish Executive and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Further and Higher Education

Richard Baker (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive when it will consult on its plans to merge the Scottish Further Education Funding Council and the Scottish Higher Education Funding Council.

Mr Jim Wallace: The Executive, on 30 April 2004, issued its consultation paper on this proposed merger, with a copy of a draft bill. We are looking for responses by 15 July 2004.

  As part of the consultation process a series of events will be held around Scotland for those interested to discuss the key issues surrounding the proposals.

  Copies of the consultation paper will be available on the Scottish Executive internet site www.scotland.gov.uk/consultations. Copies will also be placed in the Parliament’s Reference Centre (Bib. number: 32496 – Consultation Paper and 32497 – draft bill).

General Practitioners

Ms Sandra White (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to allow GPs to sell practice goodwill to third parties on the basis proposed in England and Wales.

Malcolm Chisholm: We have no plans to allow GPs to sell practice goodwill in respect of primary medical services provided to a list of registered patients. This is essentially a continuation of the current position and is given effect by the Primary Medical Services (Sale of Goodwill and Restrictions on Sub-contracting) (Scotland) Regulations 2004 which came into force on 1 April 2004. In line with the arrangements in England and Wales it is open to subcontractors, not providing primary medical services to a list of registered patients, to maintain the ability to sell goodwill.

Health

Roseanna Cunningham (Perth) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many patients there are in each NHS board area with alopecia totalis and, of these, how many are children.

Malcolm Chisholm: The information requested is not held centrally.

Housing

Phil Gallie (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it will take to ensure that private landlords meet gas regulation requirements when letting property to tenants on housing benefit.

Ms Margaret Curran: The enforcement of gas safety regulations is a matter for the Health and Safety Executive. Its guidance on the relevant regulations explains that landlords have a duty to make sure that gas appliances, fittings and flues used by tenants are safe, and to ensure that an annual safety check is carried, out normally by a CORGI-registered installer. There are penalties for non-compliance.

  The Department for Work and Pensions, which is the department with responsibility for housing benefit, advise that eligibility for housing benefit is based on a tenant’s liability for rent and their means and not adherence to gas regulations, and that there are no plans to change this position.

Housing

Phil Gallie (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what checks are carried out by rent officers to ensure that all safety regulations are met in properties for which they set rent valuations for tenants on housing benefit.

Ms Margaret Curran: Rent Officers of the Rent Registration Service have no locus in relation to the enforcement of safety regulations. Their statutory responsibility for Housing Benefit is confined to determining market rents for private rented sector tenancies in cases referred to them by local authorities. This enables local authorities to assess the level of housing benefit award.

Housing

Phil Gallie (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what responsibilities local authorities have for ensuring that properties provided by them for homeless families meet relevant gas safety regulations.

Ms Margaret Curran: Local authorities have a duty to ensure that housing owned by them meets all legal requirements under health and safety legislation. The duty to comply with gas safety regulations requires to be observed by landlords irrespective of the type of occupant in the premises.

Income

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) men and (b) women had an income of (i) up to £5,000, (ii) £5,001 to £7,500, (iii) £7,501 to £10,000, (iv) £10,001 to £15,000, (v) £15,001 to £20,000, (vi) £20,001 to £30,000, (vii) £30,001 to £35,000, (viii) £35,001 to £40,000 and (ix) £40,001 and over, in each of the last six years for which information is available.

Ms Margaret Curran: The table presents estimates of the numbers of a) men and b) women with gross income falling in the various income bands, for each of the years 1996-97 to 2001-02. The estimates are derived from the Family Resources Survey’s (FRS) Individual Incomes Analysis. Due to the small sample size of the FRS in Scotland, the higher income bands have been grouped together; the sample sizes are too small to give reliable estimates for the separate groups (vii) and (viii) for men and (vi)-(ix) for women.

  The income is gross income and includes all elements of income that are accrued to the individual in their own right. This includes income from earnings, self-employment, occupational pensions, investments, social security benefits, and, in 2001-02, tax credits. Elements of income that are generally accrued by a household rather than an individual are excluded, e.g. housing benefit and council tax benefit, and income from letting/sub-letting.

  For the purposes of the table, individuals’ incomes in each year have not been up-rated for inflation, but represent their actual incomes during the year of the survey.

  (a) Number of Men in Scotland by Income Band

  

 Income 1
(£ per year)
 Estimated 
  Number of Adults


 1996-97
 1997-98
 1998-99
 1999-2000
 2000-01
 2001-02


 0 to 5,000
 450,000
 370,000
 400,000
 410,000
 360,000
 290,000


 5,000.01 to 7,500
 210,000
 220,000
 210,000
 230,000
 220,000
 210,000


 7500.01 to 10000
 200,000
 200,000
 210,000
 170,000
 200,000
 190,000


 10,000.01 to 15,000
 370,000
 390,000
 330,000
 330,000
 320,000
 360,000


 15,000.01 to 20,000
 250,000
 270,000
 270,000
 250,000
 250,000
 280,000


 20,000.01 to 30,000
 280,000
 280,000
 270,000
 280,000
 340,000
 320,000


 30,000.01 to 40,000
 80,000
 90,000
 100,000
 110,000
 90,000
 120,000


 40,000 plus
 60,000
 70,000
 100,000
 100,000
 120,000
 120,000



  Note:

  1. Excludes any income which is not accrued directly to the individual in their own right, but also excludes student loans, Social Fund loans and benefits in kind.

  (b) Number of Women in Scotland by Income Band

  

 Income 1
(£ per year)
 Estimated 
  Number of Adults


 1996-97
 1997-98
 1998-99
 1999-2000
 2000-01
 2001-02


 0 to 5,000
 940,000
 850,000
 810,000
 780,000
 770,000
 590,000


 5,000.01 to 7,500
 360,000
 370,000
 350,000
 340,000
 330,000
 370,000


 7500.01 to 10,000
 250,000
 270,000
 250,000
 250,000
 250,000
 280,000


 10,000.01 to 15,000
 290,000
 280,000
 330,000
 320,000
 320,000
 370,000


 15,000.01 to 20,000
 90,000
 130,000
 110,000
 150,000
 150,000
 170,000


 20,000.01 plus
 100,000
 120,000
 170,000
 180,000
 200,000
 250,000



  Note:

  1. Excludes any income which is not accrued directly to the individual in their own right, but also excludes student loans, social fund loans and benefits in kind.

Income

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many men in (a) Glasgow, (b) Edinburgh, (c) Aberdeen, (d) Inverness, (e) Dundee and (f) Stirling had an income of (i) up to £5,000 (ii) £5,001 to £7,500, (iii) £7,501 to £10,000, (iv) £10,001 to £15,000, (v) £15,001 to £20,000, (vi) £20,001 to £30,000, (vii) £30,001 to £35,000, (viii) £35,001 to £40,000 and (ix) £40,001 and over in each of the last six years for which information is available.

Ms Margaret Curran: The information requested is not available at local authority level. Scotland level figures are provided in the answer to S2W-6737 on 13 May 2004.

Income

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many women in (a) Glasgow, (b) Edinburgh, (c) Aberdeen, (d) Inverness, (e) Dundee and (f) Stirling had an income of (i) up to £5,000 (ii) £5,001 to £7,500, (iii) £7,501 to £10,000, (iv) £10,001 to £15,000, (v) £15,001 to £20,000, (vi) £20,001 to £30,000, (vii) £30,001 to £35,000, (viii) £35,001 to £40,000 and (ix) £40,001 and over in each of the last six years for which information is available.

Ms Margaret Curran: The information requested is not available at local authority level. Scotland level figures are provided in the answer to S2W-6737 on 13 May 2004.

Income

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many 65-year-olds had an income of (a) up to £5,000 (b) £5,001 to £7,500, (c) £7,501 to £10,000, (d) £10,001 to £15,000, (e) £15,001 to £20,000, (f) £20,001 to £30,000, (g) £30,001 to £35,000, (h) £35,001 to £40,000 and (i) £40,001 and over in each of the last six years for which information is available.

Ms Margaret Curran: The information requested is not available for individual ages. Figures for all ages are provided in the answer to S2W-6737 on 13 May 2004.

Local Government

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what criteria, legislation and rules govern a local authority seeking to promote and run a referendum.

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is within the powers of a local authority to promote one side in a referendum and, if so, what public funding is available for the opposite side in such a referendum.

Tavish Scott: Whilst there is no legal basis on which local authorities can hold referendums as such, councils are able to canvass public opinion on issues that come within their remit by various means such as, for example, an opinion poll or a questionnaire. The method and conduct of obtaining the public’s view on a particular issue is a matter for individual local authorities.

Local Government Finance

Miss Annabel Goldie (West of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how much funding it allocated to Inverclyde Council in 2003-04 and how much of this was ring-fenced.

Mr Andy Kerr: The main central funding allocated to Inverclyde Council in 2003-04 and 2004-05, and the percentage which is ring-fenced, is shown in the following table.

  

 
 2003-04
 2004-05


 Aggregate External Finance (AEF) (£ Million)
 131.4
 135.2


 Specific Grants (% of AEF)
 8.6
 8.9



  Specific grants ensure that local authorities spend a set amount of their total funding on essential functions, such as civil protection. A percentage of certain GAEs (Grant Aided Expenditure) are ring-fenced and make up part of the total specific grants. In consultation with COSLA, additional funds have been made available for the Gaelic and National Priorities Action Fund GAEs, along with an increase in police GAE, which has had a knock-on effect on the total of specific grants.

Local Government Finance

Miss Annabel Goldie (West of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how much funding it is allocating to Inverclyde Council in 2004-05 and how much of this is ring-fenced.

Mr Andy Kerr: I refer the member to the answer given to question S2W-7915 on 13 May 2004, which is available on the Parliament’s web-site, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search .

Ministerial Meetings

David McLetchie (Edinburgh Pentlands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will list all the overseas engagements carried out by ministers in 2003-04, giving the date and duration of visit, location, purpose and cost.

Mr Andy Kerr: This information is currently being collated and I expect to announce details before the summer recess.

NHS Staff

Tricia Marwick (Mid Scotland and Fife) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many employees in each NHS board have been suspended for disciplinary offences for a period of more than six months in each year since 1999.

Malcolm Chisholm: This information is not held centrally. Each NHSScotland employer has delegated responsibility for employment issues.

Roads

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has considered the investigation by BEAR Scotland into drainage issues affecting the flooding situation on the A90 at Boddam, Aberdeenshire and, if so, what action it will take to address these issues.

Nicol Stephen: The Scottish Executive has considered BEAR Scotland Ltd’s initial report on the drainage issues on the A90 at Boddam and has now instructed that, in light of the complexity of the drainage systems in this area, a more detailed analysis should be undertaken. This further work, which will include consulting with responsible authorities, is expected to be completed by early July.

Schools

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many primary schools have been closed in each year since 1999, stating which closures required ministerial consent, broken down by local authority area.

Peter Peacock: The number of local authority primary schools closed in each of the calendar years concerned is shown in table 1 below. The table includes schools that have merged to form new schools in the local area and also, in a small number of cases, where a separate educational unit has closed and then been integrated into a school. The information is derived from the annual Scottish Executive Education Department school opening and closing exercise.

  

 Local Authority
 1999
 2000
 2001
 2002
 2003


 Aberdeen City
 1
 1
 
 
 1


 Aberdeenshire
 1
 1
 
 
 1


 Angus
 
 2
 1
 
 


 Argyll and Bute
 1
 
 
 
 1


 Dumfries and Galloway
 
 2
 
 3
 1


 Edinburgh City
 1
 
 
 4
 4


 Eilean Siar
 
 1
 2
 1
 


 Fife
 
 
 
 
 2


 Glasgow City
 1
 
 
 6
 


 Highland
 
 3
 5
 4
 1


 Moray
 
 3
 
 
 


 North Lanarkshire
 2
 5
 
 
 


 Orkney
 
 1
 
 
 


 Scottish Borders
 
 1
 
 
 


 West Lothian
 
 
 1
 
 



  Closures for which the Consent of Ministers was Required

  

 Angus
 St Vigean’s 
  Primary School
 Closed 2001


 Argyll and Bute
 Portnahaven 
  Primary School
 Closed 1999


 Dumfries and Galloway
 Westerkirk Primary 
  School
 Closed 2000


 All Soul’s 
  RC Primary School
 Closed 2002


 Laurieston Primary 
  School
 Closed 2002


 St Cuthbert’s 
  RC Primary School
 Closed 2002


 Corsock Primary 
  School
 Closed 2003


 Eilean Siar
 Manish Primary 
  School
 Closed 2000


 Dunskellar Primary 
  School
 Closed 2002


 Highland
 Loch Choire 
  Primary School
 Closed 2000


 Moray
 Boharm Primary 
  School
 Closed 2000


 Glenrinnes Primary 
  School
 Closed 2000


 West Lothian
 Abercorn Primary 
  School
 Closed 2001

Sustainable Development

Robin Harper (Lothians) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive how it will respond to the UK Sustainable Development Commission's report, Shows promise - But must try harder .

Ross Finnie: The Scottish Executive welcomes the Sustainable Development Commission's report as a contribution to the debate on sustainable development. The report looks mainly at the activity of the UK Government and at progress against its indicators, but includes brief mention of the devolved administrations.

  In particular we welcome the commission's recognition of the "serious attempts" by the Executive to put sustainable development at the centre of policy making; of the Executive's commitment to sustainable development and environmental justice and of the mechanisms we have put in place to deliver on these. That commitment is evident in the Partnership Agreement.

  We recognise that more needs to be done, by the Executive and others. That is why over the coming year we will be working with the UK Government and the other devolved administrations to develop a new UK Sustainable Development Strategy. We will be working together to determine how we can best achieve our common sustainable development objectives. We shall work closely with stakeholders in Scotland to develop the best approach - developing a UK-wide approach where appropriate but retaining a distinctive Scottish approach where it is beneficial to do so. Our consultation, Taking it On: developing UK sustainable development strategy together was launched on 21 April. The Sustainable Development Commission’s report was prepared as a contribution to the strategy review process, and the most appropriate response to it is the development of the new strategy itself.

  The new Strategy will include sustainable development indicators. Again, we will look to achieve common UK-wide indicators where sensible but supplement them with Scottish indicators where they are a better measure of our intentions.

  This will build the comprehensive sustainable development strategy for Scotland that the Commission seeks, and we look for their involvement and support in doing so.

Tartan Day

Rob Gibson (Highlands and Islands) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it received any requests to support Tartan Day 2004 in Paris; when any such requests were received, and what response it made.

Mr Andy Kerr: A formal request for funding to support a Tartan Day in Paris in 2004 was received by the Scottish Executive from Association France Celtic Tartan Day in September 2003. Further electronic requests followed. The requests were declined because it was a commercial venture.

Wildlife

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Deer Commission for Scotland (DCS), or those acting under their authority, is legally entitled to use any type of rifle other than bolt action rifles in the culling of deer and, if so, what types of rifle it is entitled to use.

Ross Finnie: Yes. The Deer (Firearms etc.) (Scotland) Order 1985 identifies the types of rifle DCS and those acting under its authority are legally entitled to use.

Wildlife

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-2064 by Allan Wilson on 11 September 2003, who the consultants appointed by the European Commission to audit LIFE projects are.

Allan Wilson: The independent consultants referred to in question S2W-2064 are Nature Link International. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search .